Read what Jamal and Leo had to say about their time on The Amazing Race and how they stayed positive!

Lee J: Afghanimals: How cheated do you guys feel when Amy had to help Nicole complete what seemed like half of her road block challenges? And on a more positive note, what's the future with you and your new girlfriends?Jamal: it was pretty tough to see what a road block that would consist of one person completing see 2 people complete. It proved that we were the team to beat and for them to accomplish that was to simply help each other every step of the way. As for the Ice Queens we made friends for life with them and are always in touch.Leo: Hey Lee! I guess it all depends on how you look at it. From a strategic standpoint it was brilliant for Nicole to have someone else help her with her roadblocks. We most likely would have been in it, if everyone worked on it by themselves, because it was definitely not an easy roadblock. I'm pretty sure Ally and Ashley would have helped us out, if we all were at the make-up challenge in the previous leg. We have made new friends for life with our race wives. I talk to them on a daily basis and have made memories to cherish for a lifetime. They definitely made the race that much more memorable for us and am excited to create more memories with them. We have a Vegas trip in the works, so that will be tons of fun!

Christine S: You had such an amazing head start going into that final challenge of building the robot. Do you wish you had not told that other team where the smaller version was?Jamal: it was in our nature to help a team we liked and we would not think twice to help Marie because she never did anything wrong to us. We love Marie and Tim!!Leo: Hey Christine! Yes, we had a great start and that haunts me till this day. Of course I could dread on it, shoulda coulda woulda sort of thing. I''m sure if I didn't tell her, it would of bought us a little more time, but towards the end we became really close with Marie and Tim. I only regret not working with them earlier in the season, we would have been a force to reckon with. I love Marie!! No regrets here!

Wai K: To Leo&Jamal: I love you guys and wish you win the race! How far were you guys behind Nicole & Travis in Japan?Jamal: only 10 mins and looking back now the speed bump took us 12mins and if that wasn't there maybe things could have been different.Leo: Thanks Wai! I appreciate it! We were about 10 minutes behind Travis and Nicole. Things might have been different had we not had a speed bump!

Kimberly S: Leo and Jamal, if you had to do it over again would you still tell that lie about the U-Turn? Do you think it engendered more ill will than it was worth?Jamal: it was a lose-lose situation for us. If we told the truth they would have been upset as to why we u-turned them. The reason why we were forced to lie was to show other teams we were still a threat when the next u-turn board comes. You only get one u-turn per season and for us it worked. Amy was scared the second leg in Abu Dhabi and told Travis and Nicole please don't let them u-turn us. So our strategy worked.Leo: Hey Kimberly! If we had to do it again, we would not change a single thing. We ran the race on our own and didn't change who we were. Unfortunately we were forced to U-turn Brandon and Adam. We knew that since everyone was against us, most likely nobody would have believed that we were forced to do so. If we didn't U-turn Brandon and Adam, we would have been eliminated. Another part to the "lie" was strategic. You are only allowed one U-turn, so if other teams realized we already utilized our U-turn we wouldn't be considered a threat in an upcoming U-turn episode. It played to our advantage at the end, because Amy was flustered in Episode 8 thinking that we were going to U-turn them, even though we couldn't have. It did engender a lot of ill will, but at the end it didn't affect our game as much as people might have thought.

Shannon B: Afghanimals- was it hard staying so positive even though all the other teams were out to see you fail?Jamal: When teams were aiming to get us out that only made us more focused and determined to succeed. We like the extra pressure and sometimes we ask ourselves what if the table was turned and teams ganged up on team Boston or Travis and Nicole I wonder how they would have broken down especially now seeing they couldn't complete the last 3 road blocks!!Leo: Hey Shannon! It was not hard at all staying positive. It's how we run our lives every day. The other teams just motivated us even more to have fun and prove everyone wrong. It added more fuel to the fire. One of our biggest goals from day one was to interact with the locals, take in the different cultures, and to have fun. The amazing race wasn't just about winning 1 million dollars, it was about the experiences, the locals, the cultures, and all the challenges. Everything we were tasked to do had purpose. Having the privilege to dive into people's daily lives was awesome, and we wanted to make sure that we left our Afghanimal foot print everywhere we stepped. We didn't want to act like robots and not acknowledge our surroundings, so staying positive was the only way to go!

Lavin M: Afghanimals - what was your most favorite leg of the show? What was your most challenging task?Jamal: I liked the leg in Austria and the singing road block with the choir. It was challenging and was fun in the same time. Austria was very rich in history and looked very beautiful.Leo: Hey Lavin! My favorite leg of the show was definitely the first day in Bandung, Indonesia. I had such an amazing time during the road block with all the kids. It made me forget that we were racing, and I just wanted to dance with everybody haha. It was very memorable, not to mention we won that leg as well. The energy in that dome was awesome, the people were awesome, and the music was awesome. It felt like a coming home party for the Afghanimals and we definitely let everyone know we arrived! The most challenging task was finding those shears in the tea fields. It didn't help that all we ate that day was a king cobra snake. After a while, all I kept seeing were tea leafs over and over again, and that ultimately put us in last place from a potential first place finish. I hope I never have to find another pair of garden shears again!

After scoring an earlier flight to Tokyo on The Amazing Race 23, Leo and Jamal overcame a Speed Bump, but were undone by an alliance... and buttons on a robot. "Those damn buttons! I did not see them at all," Leo tells TVGuide.com. "It sucked because we were feeling so good. We got the earlier flight. We did the Japanese game show Detour, killed the Speed Bump and we could taste [the final three spot]." Instead, the cousins/Afghanimals came up short, as Amy helped their Race nemeses Travis and Nicole again. Get their thoughts on that alliance, the infamous angklung Roadblock, and why they didn't mind being ganged up on.

You guys started the leg so well. Does it sting more because you made such a great comeback?Jamal: Yeah, it was tough. It was tough watching it. It was right there. Seeing it on TV, it was like, "Ugh! So close!" If Amy and Nicole hadn't helped each other, we would've been a guaranteed top three team. Those pieces were big and heavy, and I can't imagine them doing it by themselves, so they sort of "cheated" us a spot in the final three. Maybe Amy was the smart one helping a weak team so they wouldn't have to go up against a male-male team. It was probably strategy, but it was like that the last three legs, where [Travis and Nicole] just got assisted and helped and babied through the Roadblocks and Detours. It was kind of hard as a fan to watch. I've never seen anything like that.

How long did it take before you realized it was the buttons? Jamal: I think Leo attempted it seven times before he figured it out.Leo: Yeah, I don't know. It was a while. ... I was cranking it out. I found a way to level the whole robot and lifted it up with another leg, and Amy and Nicole copied me. That's something we never did. We never copied like that. I never even thought about the buttons. It was like tunnel vision. All the adrenaline and dehydration and not eating, with my eyes and mixing notes — it was just a bad combo. I knew I had a little cushion because I knew Amy and Nicole's mistake, but when I saw that they figured it out, I was like, "Aw, crap." But we still kept it together.Jamal: Right when Travis and Nicole got theirs, he figured it out. We were like 10 minutes behind. We kept going strong. We didn't give up in case something happened.

Do you resent Amy for helping Nicole?Jamal: [Laughs] No. We're good sports. The way a team is going to race just shows their character. Since the first leg, we played one way and that was to compete at a high level and have fun, respect the people and the countries we visited. ... The fact that they did what they had to do to get us out, it worked as their strategy, but we know if we had been in the final, things would've been very different based on how much pressure we put on them. We were the only male-male team and they were on their toes going crazy wondering where we were after we got the earlier flight. That's the pressure we wanted to put on them to distract them. It worked for us. Leo: We didn't really think about it in the moment, but now that I've seen the episodes, if she hadn't helped Nicole, the Race would've changed quite a bit. Ally and Ashley would've probably still been there. That would've helped us with the makeup Detour. ... It was smart on their part to string them along, but it wasn't our cup of tea for someone to do the tasks for someone else. Ally and Ashley asked us for help, but we never did the whole task for them, and we wouldn't. There's a line you have to draw, I think.

I don't think people have a problem with teams helping each other, but it's that she literally did the challenges for her.Leo: Yeah, totally. She did the angklung and the robot. It just showed how the team dynamics changed at the end. They saw us as manipulative, but they were doing it behind people's backs. They would say one thing and do something else. Us saying, "Our wife is pregnant" — that's funny. It was clearly a joke. You have to understand our humor. They didn't and tagged us as manipulative and sneaky. But everyone else was doing the same thing. Nicole comes up with this whole pact, "Let's band together and get the Afghanimals out." Then what happens when Marie comes around at the robots? They ignored her. That's something we would never do. When people asked us for help, we wouldn't not help someone. But people always thought that we were being sneaky

Let's talk about the angklung Roadblock.Leo: Oh, my God! That was the definition of hypocrisy when [Nicole] chased me! They were saying they were running the Race in an honest fashion and they don't cheat and don't lie. That was the definition of cheating. They were hypocrites. We never stooped to that. They had just U-Turned us and were on our case for lying about the U-Turn, and for them to try to cheat? That's really ironic. It's kind of sad. Be up-front with it. Don't lie and then come in the area when it said clearly, "Do not come in the judging area." They aired me saying, "You're not supposed to be here." That's why I said it.Jamal: Yeah, the rules clearly said, "When a team's being judged, no other team is allowed in the judging area." All of the sudden I just see her running like a velociraptor chasing Leo. I was like, "Leo, destroy it!" They didn't show it, but Travis said to me, "You're cheating. You can't tell him that." I was like, "No, your wife is cheating running over there when it clearly says you can't." It was those things, being hypocritical and having a one-way street for them, but everyone has a two-way street.

Why didn't they get penalized then?Leo: That's a good question. I don't know. Maybe because she couldn't see it and copy it. Who knows? We didn't let it get to us though. We had fun with the kids. Our main goal was to have fun no matter what.

Were you surprised how upset Travis and Nicole were about you lying about using your U-Turn?Jamal: I didn't know you can't lie as part of gameplay on The Amazing Race. That they distinguished us as liars, I think it went a little far and I think they're feeling the backlash now. ... It was very frustrating to see on TV how much they see us as liars, as if we lied just to lie and to be mean. We didn't spread rumors about teams or anything. The U-Turn thing was about strategy. We're not the first team to withhold information as part of strategy, and it worked. Amy was worried that we would U-Turn her later even though we couldn't.

It didn't seem to bother you at all that they ganged up on you.Leo: Nope. In a way, it makes you feel good that everyone has their eye on you and feels threatened. But to say that we're being manipulative and sneaky, and then they do it themselves? Travis and Nicole were sneaky about getting the Express Pass. We were outside and we saw the whole thing go down. But everyone decided that Leo and Jamal was the sneaky team. We were on that boat ride from Norway. It was like a 36-hour boat ride with 15-minute stops. Jamal and I got off to get ice cream and oh, my God — the whole ship was just chaos. They were all like, "Oh, my God! What are they doing? They left!" It's like, "Can a brother get some ice cream in Norway?" [Laughs]

Do you think they were thrown off by your personalities? Not just how loud and boisterous you were, but you always appeared very confident and self-assured.Leo: I definitely think that has something to do with it. I think that's in our blood. Our parents immigrated here with nothing. We learned a lot from our parents. Being so fortunate by being born in America and having so many opportunities, that builds your confidence. Jamal and I both have our own businesses. We're running our own Race every day. You have to have your confidence up. And you sort of needed that confidence with everyone ganging up on you. We always had an outlet, which was our humor and our fun. We always felt like we had a relative in the country we were in. We always knew our taxi driver's name, we were singing with them. We made a point to learn phrases of the languages of the countries we went to. We knew key words. It all added to us being confident.

What are you up to now?Jamal: Back at work. We have our own businesses here in California. Leo has a restaurant and bar. I have my own investment group and brokerage firm and a used car dealership. We have a lot of things on our hands. Winning the Race would only help us venture out even more and expand. We hate losing, but we didn't think about the money when we were on it. It was just a blast. ... But everything happens for a reason. We were blessed to go on the Race and make an impact. The amount of support we have from our fans is crazy. I get stopped all the time! I didn't think this would happen, but people recognize me. It's pretty surreal.

"Our fans are pretty good. They don't give away too much. Sometimes people love dropping spoilers, but our fans are good. They tend to do it in such a way that doesn't ruin it for fans who don't want to know."--Phil Keoghan

They were absolutely my favorite team from the beginning! Almost always on good mood. I feel it was just unfair from other teams to ally against them for really minor reason, one white lie. I would've loved to see Afghanimals to win!

They were absolutely my favorite team from the beginning! Almost always on good mood. I feel it was just unfair from other teams to ally against them for really minor reason, one white lie. I would've loved to see Afghanimals to win!

YESSSSSS! I have been WAITING for someone else to write this!

Logged

"To deny people their human rights is to challenge their very humanity" - Nelson Mandela

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. " - Robin Williams, Dead Poets Society

TARP_Lover

They were absolutely my favorite team from the beginning! Almost always on good mood. I feel it was just unfair from other teams to ally against them for really minor reason, one white lie. I would've loved to see Afghanimals to win!

They didn't just do one white lie IMO. They were lying, manipulative ***, and not the good kind.

They were absolutely my favorite team from the beginning! Almost always on good mood. I feel it was just unfair from other teams to ally against them for really minor reason, one white lie. I would've loved to see Afghanimals to win!

They didn't just do one white lie IMO. They were lying, manipulative ***, and not the good kind.

I like a ruthless team, ruthless moves and strategy. Other than that, the boys ENJOYED the EXPERIENCE which is way more important than the money IMO. Most legs they commented on the country or the experience. They weren't annoyed by other teams, but they new a tiny white lie would drive others crazy! One of my favourite teams (or mm team) in recent seasons. Fantastic characters!